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INDIANAPOLIS - Team USA will look to increase its string of victories to four at the 2006 Nike Combined Events Challenge. The meet pits Team USA against Germany August 5-6 at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.
Each team is made up of seven decathletes and, for the first time in the series' history, also will include four female heptathletes. Team USA has three consecutive victories in this event, and owns a commanding 9-3 lead in the series.
2004 Olympian Paul Terek (Livonia, Mich.) will be joined on the Team USA roster by Chris Boyles (Carlisle, Pa.), Joe Cebulski (Jonesboro, Ark.), Travis Geopfert (Cedar Falls, Ia.), Ryan Olkowski (Baltimore, Md..), Chris Randolph (Lone tree, Colo.) and Will Thomas (Wakefield R.I.). The U.S. squad will be coached by Kip Janvrin and Mario Santegna.
Current German champion Jacob Minah will lead the German squad, which also includes Arthur Abele, Lars Albert, Marian Geisler, Stefan Hommell, Norman Muller and Johannes Schwuchow.
For the women, Team USA will be comprised of four-time NCAA All-American Tacita Bass (Mobile, Ala.), 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships sixth-place finisher Danielle McNaney (Gardner, Kan.), 2005 NCAA Outdoor champion Lela Nelson (Detroit, Mich.) and Western State (Colo.) standout Reidun Wallin (Alamosa, Colo.). The squad will be coached by John Turek.
The German heptathlon delegation will be headlined by Marlen Buder, Annelie Schrader, Maren Schwerdtner and Julia Machtig, who enters the competition as the only German competitor with a career best over 6,000 points from her 6,066-point performance last month in Ratingen, Germany.
Team USA defeated Germany at the 2005 USA vs. Germany Decathlon dual meet in Bernhausen, Germany. The winners totaled 38,548 points, while Germany amassed 37,144 points in the competition.
Ryan Harlan led the way for the U.S. with his total of 7,919 points, which won the individual competition. Pascal Berhrnbruch led the German team with his total of 7,842 points, the second best individual score of the meet.
Tickets for the Nike Combined Events Challenge are available at the Kansas State Athletic Ticket Office by calling 1-800-221-CATS or by visiting www.kstatesports.com.
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